DIY OR CAMWELLS?

FOR FINANCIAL SYSTEMS PROJECTS

By Chris Challis, Managing Partner

Looking for a new financial system, be it for accounting, trading or forecasting?

 

It is very tempting to Do It Yourself using internal people, and avoid the cost of external specialists such as Camwells. But is this a false economy?

RISKS OF DIY

When working with clients, client staff have often:

  • Overlooked important requirements
  • Not spotted crucial weaknesses in software being demonstrated, as only the strengths were being highlighted

Take this example. I have recently been working to troubleshoot issues between a new payroll and the project costing system in a large group, where I wasn't involved in the original selection.

It turns out that a multi-departmental system was purchased when the extra inter-company functions of a multi-company system were also needed. This has been very embarrassing to the people involved, not least the FD and IT Director.

By following the usual Camwells methodology that could have been used in the original selection, it became apparent that

  • The accounting requirements had not been adequately documented by the end-users, and key aspects had been misunderstood by the chosen supplier
  • The system's crucial deficiencies had not been spotted by the internal selection team during software demonstrations

I completed a concise Requirements Specification in the usual way, describing the business scenario and a checklist of specific requirements. I then met with the supplier and ran through the document so they were absolutely clear on what was needed. The supplier's development team then considered what their latest software could do, how they could use it to fulfil each need, and what further development work might be needed.

A significant number of listed requirements could not be met. My discussions also flushed out that the supplier had never used this software in a multi-company environment before, and was not interested in making developments for this market.

All this could have been identified as part of the original purchase if I had been involved at that stage. Either this supplier could have been rejected, or the issue acknowledged and the final workaround solution initiated at that early stage. A lot of time and costs (and acute embarrassment) could have been saved.

This is not an isolated example. On several other occasions of doing selection exercises I have seen that requirements would have been overlooked or software deficiencies missed by internal personnel, had I not been involved.

Indeed I recently came across a £30m business that had selected software designed for businesses over £500m. Far too cumbersome to use, and the FD lost his job over it.

OTHER BENEFITS OF USING CAMWELLS

You'll clearly want to avoid the risk of something like that happening to you. But there's also other reasons why it is worth involving Camwells in your systems project:

  • For modern ‘cloud’ systems, a sound working knowledge of what to use and what to avoid
  • Focus and momentum to get each stage of a systems project completed more quickly. Time saved is money gained
  • Experience of getting the best from suppliers in both the selection and implementation phases
  • A commercial attitude during implementation. In one case a report was identified and written that allowed supplier rebates to be claimed of some £600,000 per year, doubling the company's profits


As a result, our clients have said:

"Timely, thorough. Helped enormously."
Group FD of quoted plc, for specification and selection of trading and reporting systems

"His ability to identify business and process issues quickly and his fastidious approach led to a successful and timely implementation."
Finance Director of corporate subsidiary

"Chris helped by providing clarity of thought and identifying the best options that would suit the business - a useful person to have on board on major systems projects."
Financial Controller, quoted plc

IN CONCLUSION

So is relying solely on internal resources a false economy for a financial systems project?   Certainly, yes.

 

With so much at risk, and so much to be gained by involving Camwells, doesn't it make sense to do so?

Looking forward to working with you. Please ring  01628 632914 or send us an email

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